Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. 43 BC. AR Denarius (17mm, 3.84 g, 10h). Military mint traveling with Antony in Cisalpine Gaul. M. ANTON. IMP. R. P. C., bare head of Mark Antony right; lituus beind / CAESAR DIC before, bare head of Julius Caesar right; capis behind. Crawford 488/2; CRI 123; Sydenham 1166; RSC 3. EF, wonderful, deep gray cabinet toning, struck slightly off center on both sides. Well-executed dies. Rare as such.
Following the assassination of Julius Caesar, it was unclear who would inherit his legacy. The two primary contenders were Mark Antony and Octavian. Both issued a variety of coinages that propagandized their link to the slain dictator. In particular, Octavian, through his familial link, was able to associate the name CAESAR with his own portrait. Lacking a direct link of this nature, Antony often appeared with the symbols of the various offices he held which had been held by Caesar, such as the augurate. Perhaps Antony's most cunning propaganda, however, is the coinage he struck bearing both his portrait and that of Caesar. The first of these was struck while Antony was in Gaul following his defeat at Mutina in 43 BC, and was the first type struck by Antony's military mint. The present coin is from the second series of this type, and was struck following the settlement in November 43 BC between Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus, in which the Second Triumvirate was formed.
